Congrats! Winner – Kathy Pease Random.org #129

Who Says They Don’t Make Things the Way They Used To?

Isn’t this Magic Garden shelf darling? It is made by Teamson designs. This is their Teamson Kids line. When the PR rep e-mailed me she offered me the doll house or kitchen. I wanted to say yes to one of those SO bad.. but my triplets are 9 years old, just a little too old for it. (Darn it!) I mentioned I thought this shelf was really cute and I love shelves for helping kids to organize. I like them much better than toy boxes because you can see what you have. It makes it easy for the kids to be a little more organized.

She sent this Magic Garden shelf and my first thought when I went to pick up the box on the front porch was, “Woo Nelly… this is heavy! It’s going to be a nice one!” I was right. This is very high quality, from the hand painting that makes each one a little special and unique to the hardware (according to my husband.)

What really sealed the deal for me on the quality was my husband. He is putting this together on the floor in front of me and at least 3 or 4 times he turned to me and started talking about the quality. ”Sandy, Who made this? This is really nice. I am impressed… the wood is solid, the instructions are clear, even the way they have it packaged in the box – you can just tell there is a difference. I have exactly the amount of hardware I need and even it is high quality. Everything lines up perfect.” This is coming from a man who is a senior project manager for a construction company! It takes a lot to impress Dave… and Teamson Kids did it. This is one of latest products to review and it has made my top 10 list for my Gift Guide this year!

To ENTER to Win a Magic Garden Shelf like in the review:

Go to Teamson.com and tell me if you like the New York Mansion Doll House or the Ultimate Play Kitchen better. **Be sure to come back here and leave me your answer in your comment. Your e-mail has to either in your comment or on your profile.

FOR EXTRA CHANCES TO WIN:

**Each of these HAS to have a separate comment to win. The winner is picked using Random.org. It just goes the number of comments….not by what you say.

Congrats Winner – Toni Marie! Random.org #122

You Know I Love The pouchee to Organize Your Purse!

This is the pouchee purse organizer. I know there are several other kinds of purse organizers out there… but I prefer this one! It is not too big (there is one that is much larger and has to components to it. There are many purses that would be much too big for. It also is very pricey. But the pouchee is a wonderful size. You can fit your checkbook in it. (I actually carry 3 checkbooks in mine) and it has metal ring handles. They fold down to stay out of the way, but they are there if you want to move this from purse to purse (as it was designed) or purse to diaper bag or gym bag. You can also carry it on it’s own…

The pouchees come in several colors and in either the cotton or the Outback (leatherette) styles. I will be giving away an orange pouchee. You may think…but orange doesn’t match my purse! No…that is the idea. It is great when they are in contrast to the lining of your purse. That way when you look down into your purse, you will see it immediately… it will stand out and you can find your checkbook or phone in a split second. They aren’t designed for everyone to see… but if you do carry it on it’s own… orange is a great fun color!

To Purchase a pouchee -

Go to Organize with Sandy Store and buy one! Now through December 31, 2010 if you put in the discount code “GiftGuide10″ you will get $2.00 off of a pouchee. (While supplies last. Back orders will not be discounted)

To ENTER To Win an orange pouchee:

Go to Organize with Sandy Store and tell me why you would like a pouchee. **Be sure to come back here and leave me your answer in your comment. Your e-mail has to either in your comment or on your profile.

FOR EXTRA CHANCES TO WIN:

**Each of these HAS to have a separate comment to win. The winner is picked using Random.org. It just goes the number of comments….not by what you say.

Congrats to Karen Med Random.org #10

Who doesn’t love their Card Cubby?

Isn’t this a fun Card Cubby? The Zebra print is just way cool. The one thing that I like about a bright or noticeable card cubby is that when you look down in your purse … it is EASY PEASY to spot! If you have a black entire lined purse..and have a black card cubby….it is just a little harder to spot.

I use my card cubby constantly. I do not use it for business cards. You could… but I use my for gift cards, frequent flyer cards, library cards, etc..
Being able to go into a Target or Walmart, not sure if you have any gift cards left.. or maybe you have a few dollars left on that one from Christmas? You can just go to your letter “T” divider for Target or “W” for Walmart and look. That quick and simple. You don’t have to sit and thumb through a whole pile of cards (maybe with a rubber band around them). I heard of someone else who used a ring and punched holes in all of their cards and put them on a ring. Kind of a neat idea.. except – do you always have that hole punch? I know what would happen. You would start with the cards you presently have. It would be good at first (until someone needed swipe that card and you had to take it off the ring) …but then you would have a constant changing of the cards.. and the system would break down.

To Buy a Card Cubby

Contact Me!! I sell them. Go to Organize with Sandy Store You can go here and order and if you use the code “GiftGuide10″ I will give you $2.00 off through December 31. (only while supplies last)

To Enter to Win a Card Cubby

You can win a “Zebra” card cubby as pictured in the top picture!

Go to the Card Cubby tab in my Organize with Sandy Store and tell me 2 facts about the Card Cubby that you find on the site link. **Be sure to come back here and leave me your answer in your comment. Your e-mail has to either in your comment or on your profile.

FOR EXTRA CHANCES TO WIN:

**Each of these HAS to have a separate comment to win. The winner is picked using Random.org. It just goes the number of comments….not by what you say.

Do you really think about that?

Are you ready for Thanksgiving? Do you think about being thankful at Thanksgiving…. or all the stresses that come with Thanksgiving. It is coming up fast. Are you having Thanksgiving dinner at your home… or are you going to someone else’s home? Traveling? With kids? Flying or driving?

Thanksgiving can bring it’s own set of stresses. Fixing the perfect meal for all of the family, decorating the house and the table, cleaning and planning… on top of all the other things you do.

But the one thing about Thanksgiving that is nice is that it is about being Thankful. Sometimes we forget that because we are so lost in trying to making the “perfect Thanksgiving” for the in laws, or your parents, your kids or friends. There may be family problems that you have to deal with…. worring that Aunt Jessy and Uncle Cleo don’t have a fight at the table. It may be financial problems, and feeding a whole house full is expensive!

Stresses shouldn’t overtake what Thanksgiving is about. To be Thankful.. Be Thankful for your Family (even if Aunt Jessy and Uncle Cleo have a fight) be Thankful that you have a home to have family over.. be thankful that you have your family!

Life is short… too short – and we need to be thankful for everyday we have here. Everyday that our family is here. We never know when one of our loved ones can be taken from us… Just be Thankful.

The Sales Are Coming.. Are You Ready?

How many of you like to do the “combat” shopping ..as my husband calls it?

I do!! I have gone Black Friday shopping most years and think of it as fun. I go alone… I have my list….and my plan in place.

To be successful I think you have to do your homework.

1) Have your list made out of what you want to buy
*No impulse buying when everyone is grabbing a deal

2) Have your BF ads together. (or use your smart phone to access your saved online BF store ads)
*The crowds can over whelm you, mix you up and make you forget things… have them marked and ready to go.

3) Know your plan of attack.
*Which store will you go to first?
*What time does each store open?
*Which stores match prices of items at your other store?

4) Grab your mug of coffee (and I suggest adding a packet of Cold Stone Creamery Cocoa to it..oh yum) or Hot Cocoa and get ready to either head out really early….or stay up really late from the night before.

One of the things I have done the last couple of years (last year I did online BF shopping only...but other than that) was to go to Walmart on the Wednesday before BF. I knew what I was planning to buy and found out where it was in that store. Then I would use the other store ads to get that item at the lowest price and purchase it at Walmart.

One year I went to an all night Walmart an hour before their BF sale started. All their specials were in the middle rows covered with black plastic. But most of the items I wanted were not at their sale. I went around filling my cart with items that other stores had on sale (and I had their ad with me) and got all the door buster prices! I have to admit that the woman at the register wasn’t too happy with me. She called over a manager, but the manager ok’d everything. I had exact items, I was there during the right times and none of my ads listed % off…they were all actual pricing.

You have to watch ads now though, some say no price matching during Door Buster pricing. I haven’t looked this year. But I will be checking things out online this year.

Here are a couple Brands and products that you should keep your eye out for. I’m thinking you should watch your Walmart BF ad to see if they are going to be in there and if so… I recommend these Brands.

Disclosure: The Brands that I mentioned are all clients of Collective Bias. I was not asked to mention any of these Brands in my post and I do not know for sure if any of them will be in the BF ads – but I do like their products and will be watching out for them myself on Friday. I just wanted to let you in on that. I am also the community leader for the Cold Stone Creamery Hot Cocoa group in CB. That one is just a no brainer for me to mention, because I’ve been drinking it myself everyday.. duh!

Are You Prepared?

Of course there are different preparations for the different scenarios. Is Thanksgiving at your house? Are you driving near by to someone else’s home? Are you traveling?

Here are a few of my tips if Thanksgiving is going to be at your house:

Thanksgiving Preparation:

1) Have your menu prepared this week. (hopefully it is already done)
2) Write out your shopping list and look for coupons
3) Make a time line for when you are preparing your meal. Thaw the frozen bird (what day?). Making some things a couple days in advance and freezing or making fresh that morning.

Organized Thanksgiving Bin

Some of my favorite tips for making things easier (if not this year…than next) is to have a bin like I have in the picture for your Thanksgiving supplies to be stored in. You know where to find that Kosher salt that you may only use once a year for the brine mixture for the turkey, etc.

1) I make copies of my Thanksgiving recipes that I know we will have every year and store them in the bin.
2) I keep my electric knife in our bin since we don’t usually use it other than Thanksgiving.
3) Thanksgiving decorations, special bowls and my turkey serving platter are in the bin.

It just makes things so easy. I bring the bin up a couple weeks before Thanksgiving to get my recipes out and decorate. What are some things you would put in your bin?

If there are a few little tricks that we can use to decrease stress for holidays like Thanksgiving… then its worth it isn’t it? I’m all about making things easier instead of harder. Here is my post from last year for Organizing for Thanksgiving.

How could this make your Thanksgiving a little more organized in the prep stage?

Look At My New Kitchen!

The After!!
Yeah!! My kitchen Reveal! I have never had a title back splash before. Also my cupboards are so much easier to open and close… and they are all wood as compared to the melamine I had before. I love it…

Ok… here is the “Before” so you can see the difference before the remodel. The white melamine just wasn’t holding up.

And the other side…. notice I got a new sink and faucet too! There is still some dust from the tile work on the counters…but I just couldn’t wait when I took this picture! lol

I am SO excited with it!!

We are planning on selling this house in just over a year to move to our farm house. Then of course there will be another kitchen to remodel…that one really needs help!! But, we have kids that need to go to college and we will be able to save some money by moving there. But for now I am going to get to really enjoy this kitchen!

I love my counters – I knew I wanted them to have a “granite” look. But we didn’t feel spending the money on granite was worth wild for us right now. I wanted a smooth shiny look…. I didn’t want an texture to it. I had a counter at another home I lived in that had a texture and it was a bear to clean. This is the Wilsonart Granite Laminate. That is the name of it… Granite. They have a granite like surface now, but this laminate does not fall into that. That has a texture to it. I like this much better.

Jerry Brand owns Brand Homes.net and he did my kitchen. I made him pose for this right when they were finished…. If you live in the central Ohio (or out a little) and you need a home built, or remodeling done… this is the guy! I’ve been friends with Jerry and his wife Kathy Brand for years through our church. I didn’t have to worry about being cheated or prices being “jacked” up.

He went right from working on my kitchen each day to working on helping to build a home for a woman with MS. That job was a volunteer job. He used some of my old kitchen cupboards in her kitchen. How often do you see that? Wouldn’t that be someone you would want working on your home?

By the way….. my kitchen was not sponsored, I did not get any discounts for mentioning Brand Homes…. I just want you all to know about them because as anyone knows…the construction business is a hard business to be in right now!

Wilsonart did offer me the laminate for my counters. I ended up turning them down on the offer because of the logistics of getting the counter company to wait on the order etc… But I did want to mention what my counter laminate was because I am so excited about it. So they are not a sponsor of this kitchen.

We plan on remodeling our kitchen at the farm in the next year and I am planning on using the same counters.

Yeah, my Kitchen Isn’t So Bare Now

So what do you think? This kitchen remodel is coming along isn’t it? Do you like my new cupboards? I do.. and that is what matters since I have to see them everyday! So… I’m glad I like them. I actually love cherry. But with a small kitchen, and one we probably won’t be in for more than another year or so, I went with the maple.

Here is the other side. I still have no sink to use. We are eating out mostly – thank goodness Dave’s kids are with their mom this week. That is helpful. But having no sink or water in your kitchen really throws ya.

Yes I can pour that bowl of cereal and eat it, but then to rinse the bowl out…. I have to use the bathroom sink. Of course I have to make sure there are no food particles in it. So I have a nice little bin with dirty dishes that can’t wait to be washed!

The cupboards are configured the same way. The one thing I have noticed is that my drawers are different. I had 3 drawers before. Now I have 4. You might think… oh good more drawers. They are in the same amount of space. I had my silverware in the top drawer. Then the 2nd drawer down was our bread drawer, the 3rd drawer was the cookies and snack food. Now I have 3 thinner drawers and only 1 big one. I will have to rethink this. What I should do is just get rid of all the cookies and junk and then I wouldn’t have a problem…. we would all lose weight and the world would be a perfect place. LOL Oh yeah… like that will ever happen. (Believe me, if it does I will be blogging about it!)

Jerry from Brand Homes is doing a great job on my kitchen so far… Thanks Jerry & Mike

Before You Can Build It – You Have To Tear it Out!

So begins the tearing out part of my kitchen remodel. It is so strange to see your cupboards with no counter top and no sink. This is Jerry Brand of Brand Homes working on taking out the cupboards. They had to take things apart with care. He is using some of this kitchen to help a woman who can’t afford a home – that has MS. Cool huh?

Here is the other side. It almost looks like a design on the wall where the glue was for the back splash. Are you ready to keep going?

It is almost like my kitchen is stripping you know? lol Eeek gads Edith! Where did my kitchen go? LOL They were having a time getting the microwave off. Evidently there is a safety catch that hooks the microwave to that metal frame. When you first put the microwave up, it enables you to screw it in place without having to worry about it falling. But they couldn’t find the release on this model and had it just sitting there with nothing apparently holding it up. They had taken out all the screws and it had them baffled for a few minutes.

Here is the other side. The pass through ledge is gone too.

On the picture below – Ewww… look at that mess! Actually you can see the flooring had been cut out where the sink counter had been. There is water all over from the connections… and then all around it is wet and dirty looking from …. their shoes, the cabinets…. but of course not because there was anything the least bit dirty on my floors! Oh heavens no! (lol… and if you believe that… then I’ve got some property to sell you!)

I didn’t have any water today, so I knew with this bladder I wouldn’t be able to stay in the house. So I ran some errands and sat at COSI’s eating my favorite salad – their Signature salad. (If you haven’t been to one.. you should go and try that salad.. and no this was not sponsored… but I sure wish they would… LOL!)

Clearing and Cleaning

I needed to make space to clear out every cabinet for my kitchen remodel…l I mean …. EVERY cabinet in your kitchen! I don’t know about you, but I do not have a very big house. I knew I would need every bin and surface that I had for several days. Here is my dining room…. ready to go. I am going to use the chair seats also… to put things on.

So it can now look something like this mess!! The only possible thing organized at all is that I have my coffee put set up (not in this pic) on the left corner… along with a toaster and cutting board. So I can make my coffee in the am. Hubby and kids can make toast…. the cereal is there too. So at least we can have those couple of luxuries while we have no kitchen.

Now.. get a bucket of soapy water. Unless you are a fantastic cleaner (and I am not! I can organize.. but I’ve said before, I have never claimed or will ever claim to be a great cleaner) you will have some serious cleaning to do. Get that step stool out and clean out the cupboards.

You may not have to if your cupboards are being scrapped. But my builder Jerry Brand of Brand Homes has been volunteering to help turn a barn into a home for a woman who has MS. He is going to take my old cupboards and use some of them in her kitchen. So I had some cleaning to do. I’m sure they will still need more cleaning than what I did… but clean the shelves and outsides if so.

When they pull out your stove and dishwasher, refrigerator … just wait to see what that floor looks like! Also the side of my stove was a mess. Obviously things had dripped down between the counter and my stove. Ewww!

Having white cabinets is not advisible if you have 5 kids at home. I still have to clean these. …. and that filty microwave! Yuck.

So before you do a remodeling job… plan where all your things are going to go. Get ready to do some cleaning… and get ready to not have a kitchen sink for awhile.

It Really Needed To Be Done

You might be thinking, “Well… that doesn’t look bad”. (Or you might be thinking… OMG she is right.. She HAD to redo it). Actually when I look at this picture I don’t feel a kitchen remodel had to be done either. But there are things you can’t see in this picture…. but look below and you’ll see more!

Notice the missing drawer to the right of the dishwasher? I used the space for the bottled water… Why not use that space right? The cabinets were made out of melamine, not wood. There were a couple other doors that had small cracks on them. The kids like to open them and while they make things in the kitchen I’ve seen them put their knee or foot on as a prop. Or lean on them… This stuff isnt’ that sturdy.

This cupboard door was warped from the heat of the toaster below. If you look close you can also see where the edge if peeling at the inside bottom left of that same door. There were a lot of edges doing that on the drawers and cabinets.

These are things that need to be taken care of before you can put a house on the market. Especially THIS housing market. We aren’t planning to move right away. We are thinking about it for 2012 after my step son graduates. We would move up to our farm (and that kitchen needs to be remodeled too!)

But we thought we might as well do it now and get a little enjoyment out of it ourselves. Oh… our disposal also decided to die. We have been wanting a deeper sink. This one is like the cheapest one you could put in a house.. It wasn’t deep at all. So… new sink, new disposal… you might as well do the rest of the kitchen right?

Here are the samples of what I am going to use in my kitchen. My dream kitchen would have cherry cabinets and granite counter tops. But… this isn’t my dream kitchen. With it being a galley style kitchen, it is narrow and we knew we couldn’t go very dark. It would make it look too small.

You can see the maple cabinets we are getting. The counter sample is a laminent from Wilsonart. The tile it sits on is the back splash.

I called in a friend and fantastic house builder and he also does remodeling too. Jerry Brand of Brand Homes to the rescue! I know I can trust him and I know he does quality work.

It is hard to tell what your kitchen will look like… these are the only samples I have to go with. Hoping I like it.

It is all being done this week… so I’ll take you along with me to see it step by step.

Organize those Extra Dishes

My Sis also has some solutions for her extra dishes that she wants to keep. I would never need as many sets of dishes as she has, but she does a lot of entertaining, and I would venture to say that she uses most of what she keeps at one point or another. She is not a “saver” of things she doesn’t need – our Dad ingrained that in us early.

This is a stand up cabinet. I am not sure where she got it, but if I had to guess and knowing my sister she more than likely found it some place fairly inexpensively and then did the painting and distress look on it herself.

If you have the space to have some neat pieces that can store extra things, you can more than likely find them at second hand stores, garage sales if you are looking for a cost effective solution.

This is a piece that matches her kitchen. The granite top is the same and the cabinets are the same, so I’m sure she had this made when her kitchen was being remodeled. This piece is out in her dining room. It serves as a storage place for her china, extra dishes and also works to place food or drinks on while entertaining. Something to think about if you have the room and you are remodeling your kitchen. See how much it would cost to have them make you a matching piece for your dining room.

Here is another piece that my Sister actually has in her front entryway. But I do remember this piece in her old house and she had it in her kitchen area. I didn’t open the doors or drawers to see what was in it, but my guess is that there is extra storage being used for wine glasses and accessories. You could use this for table clothes, place mats and items you don’t use everyday also.

I linked this post up to:

Simple solutions can make much needed room

Organizing your kitchen cupboards can be made easier with extra space. We are always wanting it, but may not have the resources to remodel our kitchens. Here are a few ideas that don’t have to be expensive. I’m getting the ideas from my Sister’s kitchen (which I would die for!!) but these cabinet ideas can be used in any kitchen cupboards.

You can’t see all of Sis’s kitchen in this picture. There is another area behind me that also has counter, sink, cupboards. (You’ll see that in another post) She’ll want me to let you know that things were still not all put away from the party she had last night for my Dad’s 80th birthday – usually the counters are clear.

But I did want to show you some other ideas for storage. Many of us can’t have kitchens this deluxe, but there might be some simple solutions that you can do to your own cupboards that can increase your storage space.

This cupboard is on the backside of her island. But look at all the extra shelves that were built. You see so many of this size cupboard that are all open – or they may have a small half shelf in the back. But this gives all kinds of extra storage. All those platters and trays that can be so hard to put away.

Here is another one that the shelves are more spaced out to accommodate the taller items. I would guess these are adjustable shelves, although this picture doesn’t show the holes.

Here is another example. These are some extra dishes she has – not her everyday dishes.

Here is another idea that you can use in your cabinets. This pull out wire drawer works well to be able to store smaller things and still be able to get to them. But that space above is not wasted! Then if you have taller items there is still room in front of the shelves for those.

If you are having custom cabinets made be sure to keep these ideas in mind. Make sure they make holes so that your shelves are adjustable.

Check your cabinets. Most cabinets do have adjustable shelves. USE them! You can make more room in your cabinets. If you know someone even a little handy it wouldn’t take much to make extra shelves. Just good measuring and a couple of shelf holders that you can get at your local hardware store and you are in business.

Even if you aren’t able to have a kitchen this big and nice… you can find extra storage in your cabinets by making extra shelves.

Special Needs Kids can have some Special Need Supplies

I have worked as a pediatric nurse for 28 years and had 4 years working as a Nursing Case manager for Pediatric cases for In Home Nursing care. I speak from experience when I say …..”hats off to all of the families that have special needs children.” I know that you have challenges that most families can’t even dream of.

There are of course many levels of special needs or medically fragile children and care – from needing extra work books and tutoring to rearranging your entire house to accommodate wheelchairs, ventilators, lifts and IV poles.

Trying to organize your home may be tough…but can you imagine having to turn your family room in to a bedroom with a hospital bed, nursing care coming in and out, oxygen tanks, suction machines etc…. ? It can be an organizing nightmare.
Many of these families do not have the luxury of having outside help in taking care of their children.

The biggest tip I can give them in organizing their medical supplies are:
1) clear containers
2) Label ..label…label!

I particularly like using something like the above cart. I presently use it for a craft cart for my kids…but it is great for special needs supplies. It is on wheels and can be easily moved. The drawers are clear so it is easy to visualize what is inside..and it is plastic so it makes it very easy to label. There is also a surface on top. Great for being able to lay needed supplies for procedures like changing dressings.
These bins I am using for clothing….but it can be used for extra supplies. There might be attends, chux pads, dressing supplies etc. The key – label!!

Under the bed storage can be great for supplies that aren’t used as often.

Also…use that wall space! It might be with shelves, or peg board or magnetic boards.